Artefact Sound: 1984 (Kobe Van Cauwenberghe, Mariam Rezaei & Sakina Abdou) / @xcrswx

• xcrswx (Seymour Wright & Crystabel Riley)

@xcrswx is the duo of Crystabel Efemena Riley (human/drum-skin) and Seymour Wright (saxophone) both also working with digital, analogue and ANDROID technologies – live and in the studio. Together they create sound works, and ideas that they explain, are to do with: “a span of human traditions, technologies and applications from the menstrual-bloody origins of cosmetics through evolution of reeds/drumskin ritual/musics, to Samsung and Audacity tools and attachments, Crunchyrolls and sub-woofer succulence. It’s committed, collaborative work that draws on decades of other association (past and present: X-Ray Hex Tet, Maria & The Mirrors, GUO, أحمد [Ahmed], XT trios with Anne Gillis and RPBoo) and glamour/talent, clean-beauty, smart-boards, teaching-teams, stages, studios and solos, but in terms of what comes out is a sui generis, exciting, radical, extreme, tender, physical and fresh synthesis, of beats, layers, and patterns of raw and polished sound”*.

“It’s like free jazz improv happening in another room while bone rattling subs are piped straight to your brain. Think something like Chris Corsano and Peter Brötzmann in one ear, with Mika Vainio and Eleh in the other.”